Improvement in furnaces for smelting ores



J. NEVILLE.

Furnaces for Smelting Ores.

10,138,428 Patented April29 AM PHOTD'UHJOGRAPIIICCQMY(OSBORIVPROCES$UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN NEVILLE, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHTTO THOMASHOLIHAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN FURNACES FOR SMELTING ORES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 138,428, dated April29, 1873; application filed March 28, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that-I, J OHN NEVILLE, of J ersey City, in the county ofHudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Furnace for Smelting Ores; and I do declare that thefollowing is a true and accurate description thereof, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference markedthereon and being a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is aperspective View, and Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section throughone side of the furnace and its stack.

Like letters refer to like parts in each figure.

The nature of this invention relates to a furnace for smelting silver,copper, lead, zinc, iron, or other ores in which sulphur is present andin which the desulphurizing, deoxidizing, and carbonizing processesproceed continuously, thereby effecting a rapid separation or reductionof the metal; and to this end it consists in the peculiar constructionof a double furnace, each half of whichis provided with three chambersfor the several steps in the process, and the arrangement therewith ofcertain pipes for delivering steam and air to the deoxidizing andcarbonizing chambers, as more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawing, A represents the walls of a reverberatory-furuace,divided into two by a longitudinal partition through the center, eachfurnace being provided with a separate stack, B. a is the fire-place.bis the bridge-wall. c is the ash-pit. d is the hearth of thereverberatory-chamber, back of which is a carbonizing-chamber, 0, abovewhich is a deoxidizing-chamber, g, separated from it by an inclinediaphragm, f, above which is a desulphurizing-chamber, i, separated fromthe deoxidizing-chamber by a hearth, h, open over the highest end of thediaphragm g, the chamber i communicating with the stack of the furnace.j is a hopper, through which ore is fed to the chamber 7;. k is a steampipe,

branching at k into each deoxidizing-chamber g, and at 70 into thefurnace, the jet in pin gin g diagonally across the top of thebridgewall, small apertures being made in the top of the furnace,through which air is drawn by the inflowing steam, which, mingling withthe gases of combustion, ignite them and produce an intense heat in thechamber d. o are doors in the side and end walls, through which therespective chambers are worked.

The furnace being fired up and the chamber 2' charged with ore thelatter is desulphurized by the heat, which would otherwise be wasted.When the roasting process is complete the ore is raked down or onto thediaphragm or apron y, where it is subjected to a still higher degree ofheat. Into the mass steam is blown through the pipes M, which thusfurnishes the hydrogen necessary to effeet the deoxidization. Thedeoxidized ore falling onto the hearth of the chamber 0 is thereincarbonized, being afterward raked into or onto the hearth of thereverberatory-chamber d, where, under the intense heat, it is speedilyreduced.

The furnace being double each side is worked alternately by the smeltersin charge with a great saving in fuel and labor, and greater product inthe percentage of metal reduced.

This furnace will melt in a given time ten times the quantity of metalthat can be melted in an ordinary reverberatory-furnace of the same sizein the same time.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

A reduction-furnace, having the chambers a, d, e, g, and i, and thestacks B B, constructed and arranged substantially as herein describedand shown, and in combination therewith the steam-pipes k 70 k arrangedto operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

Witnesses: JOHN NE VILLE.

WM. H. LoTz,

THOMAS HOLIHAN.

